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Lara Solt / The Dallas Morning News
Jessica Rorke prays the rosary with her daughter Maddie Rorke, 9, at the entrance of the Routh Street Women's Clinic during the Roe Memorial Rosary/Jericho Walk to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday

Sue Haas advocates for abortion rights in honor of her mother, who had to be cloaked and snuck to a dark-of-night appointment with a doctor willing to perform the illegal procedure in the early 1960s.

Helen Gohsler's opposition to abortion was solidified when she saw gruesome pictures of an abortion and felt it was the greatest possible infringement of human rights.

The pitched and often personal arguments for and against abortion persist across the region and the country 40 years after the Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 22, 1973, that states must allow women to terminate a pregnancy.

Four decades have not made the issue less divisive or resolved the country's conflicted feelings about the practice.

More than 60 percent of Americans say they do not want Roe v. Wade completely overturned, about the same percentage that said they opposed overturning the law 10 and 20 years ago, according to a poll released last week by the Pew Research Center. But nearly half, 47 percent, of the survey's respondents said they believe that abortion is morally wrong.

While the core of the landmark ruling stands, Pennsylvania has had a key role in efforts to limit it. The 1992 Supreme Court decision in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey reaffirmed the basic right to abortion but also allowed most of the restrictions in Pennsylvania's Abortion Control Act to continue. The law required a 24-hour waiting period, pre-abortion counseling and parental consent for minors.

Those and subsequent regulations have earned the state a third-place ranking in Americans United for Life's 2013 list of "most pro-life" states, after Louisiana and Oklahoma, and an F grade from NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Gohsler, president of the Scranton Chapter of Pennsylvanians for Human Life, said the Casey ruling made Pennsylvania a model for other states, but it also made clear how difficult it would be to eliminate abortion through the courts.

"We have got to find a solution in other ways," she said. "The big solution is changing the hearts and minds of the American people."

Abortion rates in Pennsylvania have declined since their peak in 1980, according to data from the state Department of Health.

There were 36,280 abortions performed in the state in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available. That is the lowest number since 2005 and a 45 percent decrease from the high of 65,777 in 1980.

The number of abortion clinics in the state also has declined.

A state law passed in 2011 that went into effect in June requires clinics that provide surgical abortions to be licensed as outpatient surgical facilities with wider hallways, hospital-grade elevators and a set amount of parking. The law was passed in response to the discovery that a filthy Philadelphia clinic performed unsafe and illegal abortions that prosecutors said resulted in the deaths of seven newborns and a patient.

There are now 12 surgical abortion facilities statewide, according to the Department of Health, compared to 22 before the law. Another four provide medical abortions through prescribed medication.

Haas, a Dallas-area resident, said she recalls her mother's experience - an illicit abortion necessary because a health condition put her at risk during her pregnancy - when she hears of efforts to curtail the availability of abortion.

"It is so scary to think we could go back to what my mother had to endure," she said. She feels "an enormous amount of pride" that women have stood up for the right "to control their own bodies," she said, but "a great deal of worry that they won't keep standing up."

In a region known for its strong pro-life advocacy, she argues her case in the editorial pages of local newspapers. She is outnumbered on paper, but not lonely in her position, she said.

"You wouldn't believe how many women call me whenever I write a letter and say, I wish I had the guts to write that."

Gohsler too finds her company in the debate encouraging, especially among young abortion opponents.

"One of the great encouragements of the last five years has been the number of young people at the March for Life," the annual march in Washington, D.C., that she said she has attended more than 30 times.

"The pro-life movement is growing," she said. "In the end, this is the way we're going to win this. We can't depend on the Supreme Court. We have to depend on the people."

The year's march will be held Friday, while a local prayer rally will be held in Scranton this afternoon. The event starts with Mass at St. Peter's Cathedral at 12:10.

llegere@timesshamrock.com

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